Saturday, April 23, 2022

It didn’t leave anyone aweSTrUcK

Toolsidas Junior – which released in 2022 – was the posthumous film of the late Rajiv Kapoor, who was born in Mumbai on August 25, 1962, and died of a heart attack in the same city at the age of 58 on February 9, 2021.

Udd Chala – which was a couple of minutes and 33 seconds long – was a song from the film.

The track was nice, but was not likely to be listened on loop.

It was rendered by Sachet Tandon and Ujjwal Kashyap.

Swanand Kirkire wrote the song, which was composed by Daniel B George.

 

Par MASSeS probably nahin sunenge

Hum Dekhenge was the only song from The Kashmir Files (2022) in my collection.

The version on my blog was three minutes and 41 seconds long.

Swapnil Bandodkar, who composed it, was also among the six people who sang it.

The others were Pallavi Joshi (one of the actors in the film, and the wife of its director, Vivek Agnihotri), Meghna Mishra, Ananya Wadkar, Shahzad Ali and Salman Ali.

The Extended Version was two minutes and six seconds long.

And the Unplugged Version was a minute and 38 seconds long.  

Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote them.

Jassi’s solo mentioned Punjabi surnames

If the four songs on the soundtrack of Sharmaji Namkeen were arranged in the alphabetical order, Yeh Luthrey would be the last.

If they were arranged in the ascending order of their durations, it would be the third – it was three minutes and 26 seconds long.

The song could be translated to, “These Luthras”.

Luthra is a Punjabi surname, and one of the last names that was referenced in the opening verse of the song.

The second male solo in the film, it was sung by Jasbir Jassi.

Gopal Datt wrote the Sneha Khanwalkar composition.

This was the longeSt tracK

Laal Tamatar was the longest song on the soundtrack of Sharmaji Namkeen – it was three minutes and 34 seconds long.

Sneha Khanwalkar’s involvement in the song wasn’t restricted to composing it, but she was also one of the two ladies who lent it her voice.

The other was Kanika Kapoor.

Though I love tomatoes, I wouldn’t say the same about the song, which Gopal Datt wrote.

If the film had released in 2020, I would have included it in my series about songs inspired by food and beverages (which I posted to my YouTube channel).

Unfortunately, this tRacK went bust!

If a song is titled Boom Boom, we surely don’t expect it to go bust, do we?

But unfortunately, that was precisely what happened to the song of that name, which (thankfully) wasn’t a recreated version of the song rendered by the late Nazia Hassan.

It was, in fact, from Sharmaji Namkeen.

One of the two men who lent it their voices was the one and only Kailash Kher.

The other was Raja Mushtaq.

The song, which was written by Gopal Datt, was composed by Sneha Khanwalkar.

It was three minutes and six seconds long.

Datt wasn’t just the lyricist

Gopal Datt is one of the members of the cast of The Week That Wasn’t, a late-night satirical television show that has been on air.

But that is not his only claim to fame – he also wrote, and lent his voice to, a song titled Aaram Karo.

It was the shortest of the four songs from the 2022 film Sharmaji Namkeen* in my collection – it was three minutes and a second long.

The song was composed by Sneha Khanwalkar.

(*Note: It was the legendary actor Rishi Kapoor’s last film, and a posthumous release for him.)

 

This was Bhardwaj’s (Harj)other track

If the seven songs from Radhe Shyam in my collection were arranged in the alphabetical order, Yeh Ishq Na Karo would be the last.

And if they were arranged in the descending order of their durations, it would be the second-longest song in the film – it was five minutes and 21 seconds long.

Interestingly, it brought the team that collaborated on the longest track.

The song was written by Kumaar.

Manan Bhardwaj didn’t just composed it, but he was also one of the two people who lent it their voices.

The other was Harjot Kaur.

Nautiyal joined the all-rounder Mithoon

If the seven songs on the soundtrack of Radhe Shyam were arranged in the alphabetical order, Udd Jaa Parindey (which could be translated to, “Fly Away, Bird”) would be the sixth.

And if they were arranged in the descending order of their durations, it would be the joint-last – it was four minutes and 18 seconds long.

The involvement of Mithoon in the song wasn’t restricted to composing it, but it was also his second contribution to the song as a lyricist.

The man who lent the song his voice was none other than Jubin Nautiyal.

 

(Arij)It was certainly thought through

Soch Liya could be translated to, “I have thought”.

And by no means would it be incorrect to state that a great deal of thought was put into the song from Radhe Shyam.

It had a couple of things in common with Aashiqui Aa Gayi.

Firstly, both the songs were composed by Mithoon.

And secondly, they were rendered by the one and only Arijit Singh.

But there were also a couple of differences between them.

Unlike Aashiqui Aa Gayi, Soch Liya was written by Manoj Muntashir.

And it was four minutes and 43 seconds long.

Harjot was the lone woMa(na)n

There were two songs on the soundtrack of Radhe Shyam that featured a lady’s vocals.

The longer of those was Main Ishq Mein Hoon*.

And the lady in question was Harjot Kaur.

Manan Bhardwaj’s involvement in the song wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he was also the other person who lent it his voice.

Kumaar wrote the song.

Incidentally, Bhardwaj didn’t just compose and sing its Reprise version, but wrote it too.

(*Note: In fact, it was the longest song on the soundtrack of the film – it was half-a-dozen minutes and five seconds long.)

Armaan rendered this song too

Having written about Jaan Hai Meri in the previous post, I didn’t expect a song with so much in common with that track to be the subject of the next post*.

The song in question was Labon Pe Naam.

Rashmi Virag wrote the Amaal Mallik composition, which was sung by Armaan Malik.

(*Note: The only difference between the two songs was their durations. While I have already mentioned the length of Jaan Hai Meri, Labon Pe Meri was the joint-shortest song on the soundtrack of Radhe Shyam – it was four minutes and 18 seconds long.)

It was an Armaan solo

If the seven songs on the soundtrack of Radhe Shyam were arranged in the alphabetical order, Jaan Hai Meri would be the second.

And if they were arranged in any order of their durations, it would be the fourth – it was four minutes and 34 seconds long.

The song was penned by Rashmi Virag, and was composer Amaal Mallik’s only contribution to the soundtrack of the film.

It was rendered by Armaan Malik.

The soundtrack of the film contained a lo-fi version of the track as well.

It was three minutes and 22 seconds long.

 

Monday, April 4, 2022

Did another Singh inspire Arijit?

Main aashiq toh nahin, magar ae haseen, jab se dekha maine tujhko, mujhko aashiqui aa gayi”.

This was one of the verses of Main Shayar Toh Nahin, from the 1973 film Bobby.

Shialendra Singh sang that Laxmikant-Pyarelal composition.

The last three words of the aforementioned line – i.e., Aashiqui Aa Gayi – probably inspired the title of a song from Radhe Shyam (2022).

Incidentally, it was rendered by yet another man whose last name is Singh – Arijit.

That song – which was four minutes and 20 seconds long – wasn’t just written, but also composed by Pyarelal’s nephew Mithoon.

Atul (Gogava)lent it his voice

If the four songs on the soundtrack of Jhund were arranged in the alphabetical order, Lafda Zhala would be the last.

The title of the song was a Marathi phrase, which could be translated (loosely, of course) to, “There is a problem”.

It was written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, and was three minutes and 55 seconds long.

The involvement of Atul Gogavale in the song was not restricted to composing it (with Ajay), but he rendered it as well.

And contrary to its title, lafda tar bilkul naahi zhala (which means, “There was absolutely no problem”).

Sid SAng this song too

The second contribution of Sid Sriram to the soundtrack of Jhund was Laat Maar. 

But unlike Baadal Se Dosti, this track was a duet.

The man who joined him behind the microphone was Sourabh Abhyankar.

It was the shortest of the three contributions of lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya to the soundtrack of the film – it was three minutes and 45 seconds long.

Though the track – which was composed by Ajay-Atul – could be translated to, “Kick”, it would certainly not be incorrect to state that the song did not just feature on the film’s soundtrack for kicks.

Sid Sriram sang this song

Of the four songs from Jhund in my collection, Baadal Se Dosti was the longest – it was exactly four minutes long.

And there’s no two ways about the fact that the intention of the team behind the track was to establish a bond of dosti between the listeners and the man who rendered it – Sid Sriram (who happened to be the voice of the soundtrack as far as the number of songs was concerned).

Speaking of the team behind the song, it was written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, and was composed by the Gogavale brothers, Ajay-Atul.

Ajay-Atul didn’t JuSt coMpose it

Sports biopics seem to be the flavour of the season, and Jhund – which is based on Vijay Barse, the Nagpur-based social worker and founder of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Slum Soccer – is the latest addition to the list.

The title track of the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer – which released in 2022 – was Aaya Ye Jhund Hai.

It was three minutes and 18 seconds long.

The involvement of the Gogavale brothers (Ajay-Atul) in the track wasn’t restricted to composing it, but they wrote and sang it too.

They were joined behind the microphone by Jay, Malhar and Sarja.

This was an underRa(o)ted track

Jalsa is not just the name of Amitabh Bachchan’s bungalow in Mumbai’s posh JVPD Scheme.

It was also the title of a film that released in 2022.

The only song from the film in my collection was Thehar.

It was an underrated song, which, when translated, was an instruction to life – “Pause for a second, and breathe” (or, if I were to paraphrase that using Gen Z lingo, “Take a chill pill”).

The one and only Shilpa Rao lent it her voice.

The song, which was written by Sandeep Gaur, was composed by Gaurav Chatterji.

Jaani composed this Praak solo

The soundtrack of Bachchhan Pandey contained a song titled Saare Bolo Bewafa.

Considering that it could be translated to, “Everyone say, ‘unfaithful’”, who in his or her right mind would actually use that word loosely?

Jokes apart, the song – whose next line went, “Zor se bolo bewafa” (which could be translated to, “Say ‘unfaithful’ aloud”) – was three minutes and 46 seconds long.

The involvement of Jaani in the song was not restricted to penning it, but he composed it as well.

It was the second contribution of B Praak to the soundtrack of the film.

 

B Praak ‘honoured his songwriter’

My blog on the music of Hindi films that released between 1969 and 1986 contained Jaanu Meri Jaan from Shaan, which released in 1980.

And the subject of this post could be called Jaani’s Meri Jaan Meri Jaan, because it was written by the songwriter whose name was always on veteran actor Raaj Kumar’s lips.

It was the longest of the four songs from Bachchhan Paandey in my collection – it was four minutes and eight seconds long.

The involvement of B Praak in the song wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he sang it too.

Bhiwandiwala (Mont)rose to the occasion

If the four songs from Bachchhan Paandey in my collection were arranged in the alphabetical order, Maar Khaayega would be the second.

It was the shortest of the four songs from – it was three minutes and 18 seconds long.

Vikram Montrose’s involvement in the song wasn’t restricted to composing it, but he was also one of the three men who wrote it, and was one of the two men who lent it their voices.

Farhad Bhiwandiwala was the second lyricist, and shared singing credits for it with Montrose.

And Azeem Dayani was the third lyricist.

Ghoshal and Singh sang it

Akshay Kumar essayed a character named Bachchan Pandey in Tashan (2008*).

He also played the titular character in Bachchhan Paandey (2022).

If the four songs from the film were arranged in the alphabetical order, Heer Ranjhana would be the first.

And if they were arranged in the descending order of their durations, it would be the second – it was four minutes long.

(Arij)It was sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Singh.

Kumaar wrote the song, which Amaal Mallik composed.

(*Note: Hip-‘Shekhar’s – A ‘Vishal’ Collection, my blog dedicated to Vishal-Shekhar’s music, contains five songs from the film.)